KIND Bars

Update Review, 2018-2022 Tastings

Evert few years I like to give products another try, even if I wasn't a big fan originally, just to see if my tastes have changed, or, if product lines have evolved.  And thus was the case with Kind bars, not a brand I've ever been that excited about, but, I do generally find their stuff "good enough", if they happen to be thrown my way for some reason or another.  My recent tastings were better than previous ones, so maybe I'd even consider seeking them out in the future.  Maybe.  

Crunchy Peanut Butter.

"Smooth peanut butter. Crunchy whole peanuts. Taste and nutrition packed into one perfect bar that delivers a good source of protein - it's a snack-lover's dream come true."

Crunchy.  Yes, crunchy.  As named.  That was my first thought as I bit into this bar.  It was hard and brittle.  It wasn't necessarily a bad thing,  but wow, certainly not a softer style classic granola bar.

My next thought was, "peanuts!"  Yes, this bar was very peanut forward.  Overall, this was a decent enough bar, truly made up of mostly peanuts, in several forms (large chunks and halves of whole peanuts as the base, peanut butter drizzle on top, and peanut butter dip on the backside).  I was quite pleased by how much peanut flavor came though.

It is not a light offering, 250 calories for the bar, 18g fat, etc but does boast 12g of protein, hence the designation as part of the protein bar line.  The protein content is helped by soy protein isolate, which didn't thrill me, but is better than whey protein, which my body never cares for.

This was one of the better Kind products I've tried.  ***+.

Update (January 2019): I had another of these, and again was first struck by how crunchy it was (so brittle!) but that was quickly replaced with appreciation for all the peanut components.  Peanuts, peanut coating, so much peanut.

As someone who loves chocolate and peanut butter together, I found myself wanting a chocolate component, specifically a creamy milk chocolate component, but that was easily remedied with a piece of milk chocolate on the side, which was probably even better than having it integrated, as I was able to control the quality of chocolate and add as much or little as I pleased.  Again, ***+, not a bar I'd seek out, but, I did like it well enough.

Caramel Almond & Sea Salt: Top (mini).

"A seemingly indulgent blend of savory sea-salt and sweet caramel melted over crunchy almonds, this bar is a delightfully low-sugar healthy snack that only tastes like dessert."

I generally opt for the chocolate covered Kind bars, as I do like the good quality dark chocolate Kind uses, but I wanted one I could have sans caffeine for an afternoon snack.  And thus, the Caramel, Almond, & Sea Salt jumped out.

Like the other Kind bars, it is a crisp style, made from primarily almonds, plus their little puffs, bound together with honey/etc.  It basically tasted like, well, almonds and caramel, just as promised, and had a legit level of salt to make it pop. 

The drizzle of caramel on top was more for looks than taste, but the backside ...

Caramel, Almonds, & Sea Salt: Back.

The backside was well coated in the caramel coating, just like the chocolate coating on other bars.  It was sweet and salty, as promised.

For once, this was a healthier product that claimed it would taste like a candy bar, and really, it did.  Dunk it in whipped cream, or crumble over ice cream, and you do have a dessert.

I don't generally reach for something like this, but, I loved using these chopped up as toppings on (real) desserts.  

***+ as a bar, great crunch, great sweetness.

Update Review, Jan 2017

I've never really cared for Kind bars.  But, recently I discovered a newer product line, breakfast bars:

"Start your day with energizing whole grains. KIND® breakfast bars are made with a unique blend of ingredients, including five super grains and served in a convenient, on-the-go pack. Soft baked with a crispy outside, these bars are the delicious morning snack you can’t resist."

While granola bars tend to leave me dissatisfied, breakfast bars are generally more successful.  Kind makes breakfast bars in 5 varieties: blueberry almond, honey oat, raspberry chia, peanut butter, and dark chocolate cocoa.  I only tried one, but it didn't leave me wanting to try others.

Blueberry Almond.

"Blueberry Almond breakfast bars are made with a unique blend of ingredients, including five super grains, sweet blueberries and crunchy almonds."

I thought a breakfast bar would be a softer item.  More like oatmeal-in-a-bar, like I've had with other brands.  These were really just regular granola bars, in a different shape.

So, the shape.  The bars are thinner, shorter, and wider.  They come two to a pack, with a serving size of two.  I really don't know why they made them this shape?

The bar had a standard base of oats and crispy things (buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, millet), that was just crunchy and not interesting.  It was slightly sweet from cane syrup, honey, raisin paste, cranberries, apple puree and juice, and of course, the blueberries, but the dominant flavor was bitter, and I'm not sure why.  I didn't like this at all.

Original Review, March 2014

As I mentioned last week, I always carry snacks in my purse, particularly different types of snack bars.  They never quite do it for me, yet I keep trying.  As I write up more and more of these posts, I realize that perhaps the perfect snack bar for me just isn't out there, and I should give up, happy to be satisfied by any other type of snack.

But anyway, KIND bars are no exception to this rule.  KIND produces a slew of snack bars (22 and counting), along with grain based clusters.  I've tried bars from all three of their different snack bar product lines, but never the clusters, as I haven't seen them anywhere.

The bars are all natural, non GMO, gluten-free, no artificial ingredients, etc.  Yes, healthy snack options.  And like most other snack bars, I just don't find them to be anything special.

Fruit & Nut

Their original product line is the Fruit & Nut bars, "made of tasty, totally natural whole nuts and fruit (and a drizzle of honey)".

Fruit & Nut: Nut Delight.

I starting with the base of the Fruit & Nut snack bar line line: the simple Nut Delight.  Made from a bunch of mixed nuts, including whole peanuts, almonds, brazil nuts and walnuts, stuck together with a honey/glucose mixture, and puffed rice.  This is a pretty simple bar.  Not much going on, just a bunch of nuts, slightly sweetened, and stuck together.  I was disappointed by the fact that it seemed to be mostly peanuts and almonds, my entire bar had only a single brazil nut and a single walnut.  I did like that the nuts were in large, almost whole, pieces.  It wasn't bad, but not particularly interesting.

 Fruit & Nut: Fruit & Nut Delight.

Next I upped it a notch to the Fruit & Nut Delight.  It is the same as the basic Nut Delight, but with dried apricots and raisins added in.  I loved the brazil nuts, and luckily this time, there was more than just one.  The flavors are great: brazil nuts, almonds, peanuts, apricots, sooo tasty!

Subsequent tasting notes: Didn’t like: all just soy crisp and peanuts, no flavors popped.  [ Great mix of nuts, loved the big chunks, and the sweetness from the dried fruit.  Also really good when a bit warm, as the sweeteners get sorta ooey-gooey.  Very good with tea! ]  Conclusion: the distribution of nuts and fruits is not consistent between bars.  Sometimes you luck out with the good stuff, sometimes you don't.

Fruit & Nut: Almond & Coconut.

Finally, another from this product line, the Almond & Coconut, made with mostly whole almonds and coconut flakes, with the same binding agents and sweeteners.

I thought I would like this, as I like almonds and coconuts, but ... I didn't.  It was really mostly just a compressed bar of coconut flakes, with a few scattered almonds.  A bit of sweetener.  I guess exactly as expected given the ingredients, but I somehow expected it to magically come together better than it did. Would not get again.

Nuts & Spices

Next I moved on to their newer product line, Nuts & Spices: "bars finely crafted from the highest quality whole nuts and nature's most delicious spices. Each seemingly indulgent recipe provides all natural protein, fiber and only 5g of sugar (or less)."

Nuts & Spices: Madagascar Vanilla Almond.

I started with the most simple bar from this line: Madagascar Vanilla Almond.  Made from "mixed nuts (almonds, peanuts, cashews and walnuts) with delicious Madagascar vanilla."  Same binding agents as the previous line.

This bar was primarily almonds, stuck together with something slightly sweet, along with a few little crispy rice things.  There wasn't any vanilla flavor noticeable.

Again, not bad exactly, but it wasn't as advertised.  If it was called just a "Slightly Sweet Almond Bar", I probably would have really liked it, but I was searching for the other promised nuts and hints of vanilla the whole time.

Nuts & Spices: Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Pecan.

Next up was the tasty sounding Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Pecan, a "combination of pecans, almonds, cashews, and peanuts drizzled in chocolate with a hint of cinnamon."

The description is funny, as it mentions a hint of cinnamon ... and this had not just a hint of cinnamon, it had tons of cinnamon flavor, it was by far the strongest flavor in the bar.  Or really, strongest flavor of any bar I tried.  The whole thing was kinda bitter, perhaps from the chicory?  The pecans sadly did not stick out amongst the mixed nuts, which was disappointing.  And the dark chocolate was flavorless.

Disappointing, and didn't live up to its tasty sounding description!

Nuts & Spices: Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt.

A final choice from the "Nuts & Spices" line, the Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt bar is "a sweet and salty blend of almonds, peanuts, and walnuts drizzled in chocolate with a touch of sea salt."  No cashews this time, which I appreciated, since I don't really like cashews.

A good mix of crunchy nuts, held together by the same sort of sweet glue as the others.  The dark chocolate was decent, but there wasn't much of it.  The salt seemed pretty inconsistent, some bites had some, some didn't.  This was one of the better bars I tried, but I still wouldn't buy more.

Subsequent tasting notes:  Again, I liked the mix of nuts, but I found the salt really inconsistent.  The bites that had it, I really liked, but it wasn't well dispersed.  Or maybe that is what they are going for, as every time I got some salt, I wanted to go back for more of the bar!

Plus Bars

The final category of bars is the Plus Bars, they "have a little something extra—boosts of absolutely all-natural nutrients like protein, fiber, antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids. "

Cranberry Almond + Antioxidants.

I started with the Cranberry Almond + Antioxidants, it has "almonds, cranberries, macadamias, and puffed rice".

It should have been delicious, as I love macadamias!  But ... very meh, just kinda sweet, and the flavors didn’t really combine that well.

[ No photo]

Almond Cashew with Flax + Omega-3

"A chewy and crunchy blend of whole almonds, cashews and dates".

Another meh, not good flavors, just nuts in nasty date paste.

Ginther's Swirls Ice Cream, Orlando

In my world, hot weather, and sunshine, call for one thing: soft serve ice cream.  In a cone.  With sprinkles.  So when I was recently in Orlando for a conference, and warm weather we most certainly had, I quickly searched for nearby ice cream.  I was delighted to find that a highly rated ice cream place, with soft serve (critical!), was located literally across the street from my hotel. I couldn't wait to visit.

Ginther's Swirls was my destination, a seemingly family run operation.  I don't know if they make their own hard serve ice cream, I rather doubt it given the building size, but they had no signage sharing dairy info.  I also never had the hard serve, but I can tell you that the soft serve, what I sought out, was fantastic.  I went every day I could while I was in town.  I'd return in a heartbeat, and highly recommend if you are ever in Orlando, over near Sea World and Aquatica.

Setting

Ice Cream Stand.

Ginther's Swirls doesn't look like much of anything.  Located next to an Applebees, next to a little strip mall.  The colors of the exterior don't really pop.  There is no elaborate, inviting signage.  In fact, if I hadn't done my research, I likely would not have noticed it, or even if I did, I wouldn't have thought it would be good.  But I'm glad I did.

Drive Through!

Ginther's has a drive through (which was totally novel to me ... drive through ice cream?!), and an outside ordering window.  There is a seating area inside as well, literally, just seating, no counters or ordering area.

I always walked up to order, as my hotel was across the street, but I never saw anyone else outside ordering.  I think most people do drive though?

Adorable Mini Picnic Table.

Outside are regular picnic tables with umbrellas for shade, plus these adorable mini ones for kids.  

Ice Cream

Ginther's Swirls is all about ice cream.  This is not the kind of ice cream stand that also has hot dogs, or even bags of chips.  Ice cream.  That said, the menu is quite extensive, took a while for me to take in, and, wow, I had such decision paralysis.  Yes, even though I visited knowing I wanted soft serve, I had that many options!  

Menu.

The Ginther's menu starts out simple enough.  Soft serve, in a dish, waffle, fancy waffle, or regular cone.  Six flavors available, including vegan fat-free Dole Whip, or 8 more available as Flavorbursts.  Kiddie, small, medium, or large sizes.  Hard ice cream, similar story, 8 flavors available there too.  Add sprinkles, dips (3 kinds), or other candy or sundae toppings if you please.

Speaking of sundaes, of course those are an option, in several forms, including classic banana splits, or on top of brownies, or as parfaits.  All the sundae sauces you could want to pick from (caramel, butterscotch, hot fudge, chocolate syrup, marshmallow, peanut butter, etc, etc), all the fruits (blueberry, cherry, peach, pineapple, raspberry, strawberry, etc), and all the candies (Snickers, Reese's PB cups or pieces, Oreos, M&Ms, Heath, yadda yadda).   If that isn't enough, there are specialty sundaes, and then ... all the milkshakes.  All the malts.  35, yes, 35 kinds available.  Also all available in child, small, medium, and large sizes, which I actually appreciated, as so many places have only one size available shakes (although, can you imagine their large, 32 ounce milkshake? Zomg, that's a lot of milk shake!)

But then there are also Twirls (soft serve with mix-ins), slushes (7 flavors), slush floats, Dole Whip floats, and Freezers (8 of these too, I think sorta like Frappucino/Coolattas?).  Again, everything available in 4 sizes.

So. Many. Choices.

The first time I went to Ginther's, I asked how the mint was, as sometimes mint flavored things can be rather medicinal.  "Do you wanna just try it?  I like it, but, you should try!", said the friendly staff member.  I took one bite, and I was hooked.  This was very, very good soft serve.

The texture of the soft serve was perfect, so creamy, great mouthfeel.  It melted well (also, fast in the 90* weather!), but, clearly high quality soft serve, far above average, and better than anything we have in San Francisco, and better than my hometown that prides itself in soft serve.  The only traditional soft serve that I've had that is better is still King Kone, where the flavors are just remarkable, and are all homemade. Ginter's uses a high quality base, clearly, but does use Flavor Burst (the Stripe version for all the extra flavors, and the blends for the vanilla/chocolate/strawberry/mint regular offerings).  That said, not a single flavor I had tasted artificial.  

During the course of my five day stay in Orlando, I visited four times, basically, every opportunity I had.  I always sampled something, and the staff were always happy to let me try.  I even got adventurous and tried the Blue Goo (cotton candy-like) and Bubblegum flavors, both of which shockingly weren't too sweet, and, although I didn't get them in a full size cone, I actually would totally consider in the future.  Not just for kids.

I never made it to the Twirls, nor a sundae, but if I were to return to Orlando, and stay nearby again, I certainly would like to try even more of the menu.

Vanilla & Mint (layered), Chocolate Sprinkles. 
Kiddie Cone. $2.25 + 0.90.

My first visit, I asked the server about the mint, and she immediately offered a sample.  I took one bite, and my decision was made.  This was both great soft serve, and excellent mint. No medicinal tasting mint here!  While I couldn't swirl it with anything, I could layer it, and opted for vanilla, just to have a bit more going on.  And, of course, sprinkles, because when I have a soft serve cone I need sprinkles, and I went for the chocolate ones as they would compliment the mint the best.

This was a great cone.   The vanilla was just vanilla, but perfectly creamy, and it was nice to balance the mint.  **** vanilla.

The mint was, um, minty, and as I said, not medicinal, not fake tasting, just, very pleasantly minty.  ****+.

The mint went great with the chocolate sprinkles, and they seemed high quality too - I don't think house made, but, they weren't the boring, waxy, flavorless kind.  Oh, and the cake cone?  NOT stale!  Perfectly crisp.  **** to those things too, just, notches above average really.

Overall, just, truly enjoyable, and the kiddie cone was the perfect size for me.  The $2.25 price for a kiddie is quite reasonable too.  **** overall, maybe even ****+, just in a league above most soft serve, particularly traditional flavors (e.g. not something like Soft Swerve, which is fantastic, but, its all about the ube and fun toppings ...)

Chocolate & Black Cherry Flavor Swirl, Chocolate Sprinkles.
Kiddie Cone. $2.25 + $1 + $0.90.

The next day, I was really craving chocolate, and almost went back to my hotel to eat either the chocolate cake I had left over, or the chocolate pudding cup I had, but, it was ice cream weather, and, hey, I really liked Ginther's the day before ... So to Ginther's I went.  

I don't normally go for chocolate ice cream (I love chocolate, just, not chocolate ice cream), but, as I said, I was in the mood, and so I asked to sample it first.  Like the other flavors, the consistency was perfect, but, moreover, it was the rare kind of chocolate ice cream I actually like, quite mild milk chocolate.  Well, then.  **** chocolate too?

But I also wanted to try a flavor swirl, and although Blue Goo and Bubble Gum actually kinda sounded fun, and I love Butter Pecan, I went for the Black Cherry at least minute, thinking that it would pair well with the chocolate in a black forest kind of way.  And yes, more chocolate sprinkles, because I'm a kid at heart, particularly when it comes to ice cream cones.

The black cherry was a Flavor Burst swirl, so, you could see the swirl of red sauce with the regular vanilla ice cream, but the cherry flavor was good, again, *not* fake tasting, even if it was.  I really liked it, and black cherry isn't a flavor I've had all that much in ice cream (I suppose Cherry Garcia is the real basis I have for cherry ice cream, not a flavor I ever went nuts for, but its my mom's favorite).  I was quite pleased that I chose to order it, without tasting first, and going a bit off my normal ordering style.  **** for this one, as well.  

The black cherry and chocolate and chocolate sprinkles all did go together perfectly, black forest vibes were strong, and I again loved this one.  ****.

Chocolate & Black Cherry Flavor Swirl, Chocolate Sprinkles.
Kiddie Cone. $2.25 + $1 + $0.90.

My final day in Orlando, I went back for the black cherry and chocolate combo, yup, of course with chocolate sprinkles.  

I still really liked the black cherry, although the flavor didn't seem quite as intense this time.  I was less into the chocolate this time, it was still better than most chocolate ice cream, but as I had mentioned, I don't generally like chocolate ice cream, and that feeling came through this time.  I think it would be great *swirled* with the black cherry, but only layering was available.  

I enjoyed my last cone, the ice cream, sprinkles, and cone were again high quality, but I did love this one slightly less.  ***+.

Blue Raspberry Slush Float (child size).  $2.85.

Ok, story time.  Back when I was a child, I remember loving blue raspberry slush with vanilla soft serve, from my hometown place, Dairy Twirl.  I don't remember what they called it, but, basically, think ice cream float, but with slush instead of soda, and soft serve.  (If anyone reading this is from Lebanon NH and remembers what they called it ...).  They stopping having it at some point, and I've never seen anywhere else have it.  Until that is, I went to Ginther's Swirls.  

Now, I adored the soft serve cones I had, and I was planning to get another (or maybe go for their version of a McFlurry/Razzle/whatever you call soft serve with mix-ins), but, it was really quite hot (90*+) and icy slush actually sounded fantastic, and, um, I had a moment of nostalgia, and decided that I needed a blue raspberry slush float ... even though I knew it would be crazy sweet and I haven't wanted a slushy thing like this in many, many, many years.

Slushes, and thus Slush Floats, are available in a bunch of fruity flavors: blue raspberry, cherry, mango, orange, pina colada, strawberry, and watermelon, and 4 sizes (I went for the child size, 12 ounce, but you can get up to 32 ounce ... which, um, would be SO MUCH SUGAR!).  I obviously had to get the blue raspberry, because, #nostalgia.  By default, they come with vanilla soft serve, but you can change it out if you want.  The soft serve, e.g. "float", is just $0.75 more than slush.

I was impressed by just how much ice cream was in it when she handed it over.  I'm pretty sure there was as much ice cream here, if not more, than in my kiddie cones!  The ice cream, just vanilla as I didn't want to clash with the blue raspberry, was as fantastic as all the cones.  Really, just soo creamy, perfect mouthfeel, melts beautifully.  Really above average soft serve, ****.

The slush was, well, blue raspberry slush.  It was very sweet, it was very fake blue raspberry tasting, and, yes, it was refreshing sorta in the icy nature, I pretty quickly realized that my love of these belonged in my childhood past, and this was just too sweet, and too much sugar.  It made me wish it was root beer, or something less crazy sweet.

I did still really like the refreshing icy slush + creamy rich ice cream balance, and I found it fun to eat-drink, but, I couldn't finish all that blue raspberry slush, just, too much sugaryness, even for me.

**** soft serve, ***+ average quality nicely icy slush, **** for nostalgia and fun of eating, but, *** overall as I couldn't handle the sweet.  I wouldn't get another, but, hey, it was fun to try it (and then be the adult walking around with a blue tongue ...).

Cookie dough / Reese's Pieces / Heath Bar (sides).  $1.10 each.

Ok, this was a case of FOMO.  My last day, I almost got a Swirl, as I hadn't tried those yet.  I did almost want the experience of eating soft serve, with a spoon, with mix-ins.  But I also wanted another cone.  So, I decided to get the mix-ins on the side, so I could eat my cone, and then start adding in things if I wanted.  The Reese's Pieces were mini, which works great with ice cream.  Heath Bar was little bits, again, great for mixing in.  These were brand name things, so, entirely met expectations.  The cookie dough was the one I was most interested in, hoping for homemade, but these were definitely not.  That said, they were soft, sweet, buttery, and enjoyable.

Standard, quality toppings.  ***+.

Fiorenzo, Orlando

I was recently in Orlando for a conference at the *massive* Orange County convention center, and had one opportunity to go out with my more direct work group, about 45 people (the conference had 30,000+ attendees, for reference). We were looking for a venue that could handle a group our size, could accommodate vegans, was reasonably priced, and nearby.  A tall order, particularly as we decided to do the dinner just the week before.  One member of our group took to organizing, and was about to lead us to Cheesecake Factory (which, don't get me wrong, has its hits), but it would require 15-20 minute cab rides, and I hoped to find something more easily accessible.   I did a super quick search, not having time to really devote to this, but also not wanting to step on toes of the person who stepped up to wrangle us, and one place did show up: Fiorenzo.  An Italian Steakhouse.

Fiorenzo is located in the Hyatt Regency, adjacent to the Convention Center, and actually, the site of many of our breakout sessions.  Location was as good as it could get, without being conference center catering on-site.  They also had a private room that could seat us.  Um, ok, yes, location, fantastic.  But what about the food?  Well, hmm, 4 stars on Yelp, and generally good reviews from regular diners and others who had been to events there alike.  Far above average for a hotel it seemed.  The menu sounded great too - all your steakhouse heavy hitters of course, including add-ons of scallops or foie gras (!), which I hadn't had in ages.  They also had a large Italian menu with pastas and flatbreads.  Again, all with good reviews.  And plenty of vegetarian and vegan options.  It sounded great.  That said, the steakhouse did have a fairly high price point, but ... they participate in an Orlando-wide program in September called Magical Dining, offering up 3 course menus for $40, with choices for each.  Now that sounded beyond perfect.  Location as close as can be, solid food, reasonable price?  We were in.

Fiorenzo was obviously adept at large receptions and groups, taking orders and delivering courses with ease.  I had to leave early because I had a meeting I couldn't miss, and when I mentioned this to my server, he prioritized my dishes - I got my first course first, I got my main course while others were finishing their starters, and he gave me my dessert to go, along with a container and takeout bag for my extra food.  Way above and beyond what I expected.  For a big group, service was really quite good, and they handled my special needs with ease.

The food was solidly lower end average, and what you'd expect from wedding or event sit down catering.  Nothing bad, nothing great, but the venue really was a great fit for our group.

Group Menu.

Because we had a large group, we were provided with a set menu.  We had no choice of starter or dessert.  For the main dish, we had a choice of florentine chicken, swordfish piccata, or wagyu beef bolognese.

Vegetarians and vegans had a separate, entirely vegan, menu - a different salad, choice of two entrees (veggies or vegan meatball), and vegan cheesecake.  The vegetarians who weren't vegans lamented their choices, I overheard several mentioning that they like cheese and cream!

I had thought we were going to be able to do do the special "Magical Dining" menu, which has 4 choices to start (two salads, a flatbread, or their signature meatball), 4 mains (including the chicken dish we had, but also their tasty looking bucatini carbonara), and two desserts (yes, salted caramel budino!!!), and I was quite looking forward to it.  That menu really does seem like quite a deal, priced at $40 per person, and all of the dishes are found on their regular menu, usually around $60 for those options.

Focaccia & Oil.

To get started, we were provided with baskets of focaccia & a pot of olive oil.  The olive oil looked decent quality, and I think there were two kinds of focaccia, one more plain, one herby.  Since I had just come from a reception with food, I skipped this.  No one else at the table commented on it, and only one person tried it.

Starter: Caesar Salad.

"Baby romaine | anchovy powder | roasted garlic ciabatta crouton | shaved parmesan | classic dressing."

For our first course, we had no choice. A Caesar salad it was.  I was a bit let down because, although I do like Caesar salad, I was eyeing the "Fiorenzo wedge" with marinated tomatoes, crispy panchetta, and more. That salad is also one of the several starter options on the Magical Dining menu, so I assumed we'd have that choice.  Alas, a regular Caesar it was for us.  The vegans/vegetarians had a much better looking salad, the "Market Salad", with more toppings: kalamata olives, baby heirloom tomatoes, shaved red onion, cucumber, white beans, and a balsamic dressing.

Anyway, the salad was ok.  I did like the use of baby romaine, that was a bit novel.  The lettuce was quite crisp and fresh. I didn't detect the anchovy powder, but the dressing did seem to have a slight fishiness to it (that I like, as I adore anchovies).  It wasn't tossed with dressing, rather, just drizzled, and wasn't over dressed.  The parmesan was parmesan.  The only thing that really stood out was the croutons, they actually were pretty good, nice garlic flavor, great crunch.  It was entirely unseasoned, and required copious amounts of pepper applied at the table (luckily, we had a pepper mill on the table).

I'd call this a solidly average Caesar salad, with slightly interesting base lettuce and croutons, and slightly annoying to eat given the large pieces and need to cut and distribute the dressing.  It left me really wanting for some shard red onion to contrast, and some juicy tomatoes.  But, yes, traditional Caesar it was.  ***.

The regular menu has this for $14, I'm not sure if it is a bigger portion there. 

Main: Swordfish Piccata? Or Seasonal Fish (Swordfish).

"Seasonal vegtables | Lemon caper butter sauce | Salsa verde." or maybe ... "Pea purée | peas | carrots."

I was a little surprised when my main dish showed up.  Yes, it was swordfish, but it sure did not look like any piccata I've ever seen.  Yes, it may have had "seasonal vegetables", but, where was the lemon caper butter sauce?  What about the salsa verde they mention?  There was none of either of these elements.

The regular menu, and the Magical Dining menu, both have a "Seasonal Fish", which I had been told was swordfish that day, served with pea puree, peas, and carrots.  My dish certainly had all of those things, and then more.  I'm not sure if our menu was wrong, or if they gave me the other dish to help with my speedy exit?  I left before the others got their mains, so, I didn't see if anyone else actually got piccata sauce.

Anyway.  This dish, much like the Caesar, was hovering right below average.  Basically what you'd expect at a wedding or banquet, better than on an airplane.  The fish was cooked ok, a bit dry, but, without any sauce (lemon caper butter as promised or otherwise), it was even more dry.  The thick pea puree didn't help, it made it eat very, well, dry.  Like the Caesar, it was also completely unseasoned, and quite bland.  I added as much salt and pepper as I could, to both the fish and puree, and all the vegetables.

Speaking of those vegetables ... yeah, they weren't very good.  More in line with cafeteria food - cubes of carrots and peas mostly, with a few bits of asparagus and a few tomatoes. The tomatoes were nice as they added a tiny pop of acidity.  Again, though, the vegetables were entirely unseasoned, and entirely dry.  They weren't too mushy, but certainly weren't particularly fresh and crisp.  More (any) seasoning needed, and, wow, this dish needed a sauce.

On top was a mound of soggy greens.  Watercress maybe?  But so wilted, so soggy.  Dressed in something I guess, but I didn't detect any flavor.  The greens were pretty off putting in their sogginess.

**+ for the overall dish, although the fish itself was fine (***).

The regular menu has the seasonal swordfish dish for $32, and it is also a Magical Dining option.

Dessert: Tiramisu.

"Espresso angalise | chocolate sable."

For dessert, I was really looking forward to their signature salted caramel budino, as I adore puddings, or perhaps the seasonal fruit croustade with ice cream, but alas, we had only one option: tiramisu.  I really thought we'd have the budino, even if on a set menu, as it is the one on their Magical Dining menu too.

Since I had to leave for a meeting, AND I avoid caffeine at night, I asked for mine to go.  The restaurant handled this request with ease, providing it to me before the others even were served their main dishes.  It wasn't mangled when I got it, but, apologizes, I took the photo after I got back to my hotel, and it clearly suffered.

The menu description made this sound slightly non-traditional, with espresso anglaise and chocolate sable ... what I got was really a standard tiramisu.  Espresso soaked ladyfingers, mascarpone cream ... there were certainly no chocolate sable cookies to be found, and the cream didn't seem espresso flavored ...

That said, it was a good traditional tiramisu.  The cake layers were well soaked, the cream rich, the balance of components just right.  Above average tiramisu, but just nothing like our menu said.  ***+. 

The regular menu has a different version of the tiramisu, with "creamy mascarpone | chocolate "croutons" | coffee reduction." for $10, but that sounds even more deconstructed than what we had, so I'm quite curious what that one is like.

United Polaris, FRA-SFO

Flight Details:

• UA 927, Frankfurt to San Francisco.  
• Departure: 5:30pm (Actual 6:15pm).  
• Arrival: 7:55pm. 
• Seat: 11A

This was my second time flying United Polaris, the previous time was from Sydney, March 2020, right as the world was locking down (literally, flew back to SF and was in lockdown 2 days later).  That flight was highly, highly mediocre, particularly compared to my regular Air New Zealand, and I can't say it left me inspired to fly United again (well, ok, the ice cream sundae cart was pretty awesome).  And I certainly didn't want to fly United when they were very well known in the flyer community for dragging out Covid level reduced service for as long as possible.

And yet, here I was.  There really were no great flight options from Munich back to San Francisco, so I decided to go with United, through Frankfurt, so I could at least have an evening flight (better for some attempt of sleep) and, most importantly, no neighbor.

The service was considerably better than I expected.  My flight attendants were all quite friendly.  They didn't seem to hate the passengers.  They proactively offered things.  They genuinely seemed to care.  Really, an excellent crew, every single member I interacted with.

Amenities

My seat selection was fairly limited, but I knew I wanted an odd numbered window seat (the ones furthest from the aisle, evens are staggered closer, and, ideally, A side of the plane (so my little table would be on the right, as I'm right handed).  I wound up in 11A, the third row in the mini cabin of rows 9-12.  I liked being in the smaller, 4 row cabin as it felt a bit more intimate, although it also meant our meal service was pretty late into the flight, as the larger front cabin (rows 1-8) were served first.  It also meant I was basically right at the engines, quite a noisy seat.

Amenities.

Waiting at our seats when we boarded were the standard Sax Fifth Avenue branded blankets, big pillow, and smaller gel pillow.  Mattress pads were available once we were ready for sleep (but I of course secured one as we boarded, as I know they don't actually have enough for everyone).  No smaller lounging blankets on this flight, no pj's nor slippers either (only for longer routes like Sydney I guess?).  I was able to ask for a light blanket from PE (or maybe economy?) which was actually perfect for lounging, particularly as the aircraft was kept quite cool.  A very basic amenity kit was also at our seats, one of the uglier designed bags I've seen.

Screen, footwell, shelf.

The seat I have mixed feelings on.  I appreciated having no neighbor, I liked having the big table on the side, and the tray table slides in and out nicely making it possible to get in and out of the seat with it open.  I like the cubby for storing small items during the flight.  But there isn't really any other storage, just a little in the foot well and a tiny shelf under the tv, not big enough for a laptop.  No cubby for shoes.  You have to wear a shoulder strap seat belt during takeoff and landing.  No individual air nozzles.   The tv screen was fairly small.

The seat, while private, is quite narrow.  It felt cozy in a way, but also, a bit claustrophobic.  It was reasonably comfortable to sit, although like many aircraft, the controls weren't exactly intuitive.  It slid down easily to make a bed, and since they don't do turndown service, this was good, as most people could figure it out.

It was strangely comfortable for sleep.  Yes, it was very narrow.  Fairly short.  Not that well padded.  The mattress pad helped, but it was quite thin, didn't attach to the seat, and slid around.  It was only comfortable if I turned one way, else my knees hit the side.  But, when I turned that one way, it really was quite comfortable a cozy, particularly with the big plush pillow, the little gel pillow I used between my knees, an extra premium economy pillow and blanket I asked for ... and the plane was kept quite cool, definitely the least hot I've ever been on an overnight flight.  So I did get a few hours of solid, comfortable sleep, shockingly.

Food & Drink

Main Meal

Even though it was May 2022, United still had no printed menus.  As we settled in before takeoff, we were asked our main dish choice, described only as "beef, chicken with cous cous, or pasta ... I think ravioli."  Anyone who ordered the beef was asked their second choice, a clear indicator that they assumed they would run out.  We were also offered a pre-departure beverage of sparkling wine or water.  A little bit of service standards coming back.

Wine Tasting & Nuts.

Quite a while once underway, at least an hour in, the cart came through offering beverages.  I was happy to see several 3 different red wines, including a pinot noir and tempranillo, and one called "DOC".  I asked to try both the pinot and the tempranillo.  Our drinks were served with a little bowl of almonds, actually served warm.  We were on a test route for starting to bring back some amount of regular service, hence, warm nuts.

I didn't particularly like the tempranillo (very strong acid), but the pinot was light and fine.

Meal.

No appetizer was offered (still reduced lineup), just a salad (honey mustard dressing on the side) and roll, served with the main meal, on a single tray, not before.  These were hand delivered to each person.  For me, since I was back in row 11, this was nearly 2 hours into the flight.

Salad, Roll.

Everyone else seemed to get pretzel rolls, but mine was a basic white crusty roll.  It wasn't horrible, actually not stale, but also not warm.  Maybe this went better with ravioli than a pretzel roll would have?  That seems reasonable, but I would have liked the choice.  It came with a salted butter packet on the side. **+.

The salad had slightly interesting greens as the base, and randomly, grapes.  They were pretty fresh and juicy, not what I normally have in salad, but hey, fruit.  The dressing was just packaged honey mustard.  I added my own stuff to the salad - I had baby carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, pickles, and sausage salad to add on top. *** as served.

Ravioli.

For my main, I selected the ravioli, even though I didn't particularly want it.  I knew I didn't want the chicken with cous cous, and the beef I was interested in for the sides, except that they didn't know what it came with (I asked).  "Probably some vegetables", was the answer.  Well, ok then.  I was hoping for some decent veggies and maybe mashed potatoes?  But since I knew it was limited, and I didn't really want airplane filet, I just went for the ravioli.  Spoiler: I had my own food with me as backup anyway, and didn't suspect I'd eat much of the flight food anyway.

This ... was not good.  The serving was decent, 5 pieces of cheese ravioli, plenty of sauce.  But ... yeah.  The ravioli tasted like elementary school lunch.  Really not good.  The pasta was not quite mushy, but certainly not al dente.  Ricotta filling had no seasoning.  The sauce was fine, good chunks of tomato, but also had a pretty boring taste.  No complexity whatsoever.  No cheese to sprinkle on top or anything.  *.

And with that, I gladly pulled out my own meal, and heated it up in my HotLogic.

Dessert & Port.

Once done with the mains, we were individually offered dessert (no cart).  Dessert offerings were a cheese platter, a raspberry tart, and ... yup, ice cream "sundae"!  Ok, NOT the famous United ice cream sundae cart, rather, these were pre-assembled with fixed toppings, but, at least it was something (most United flights were still doing just a Tim Tam - for SYD flights, a packaged sorbet - SF based, or packaged Christie Cookie Company cookie - other US cities).  You know how much I love ice cream.

The FA offered any of the above, or even said "any or all of", so I asked for both the tart and the ice cream, along with a little port.  Air New Zealand taught me to really enjoy port with my desserts!

I did quite enjoy the port, the best part of the entire meal lineup. ****.

Raspberry Tart.

My dessert quickly arrived.  The raspberry tart turned out to be ... well, I guess a tart?  A bit hard to describe, but not what I was thinking (I was picturing a tart shell, cream filling, raspberries on top ...).  

It did have a hard shortcrust shell, but was more like a cake inside, with raspberries baked in, and a layer of raspberry jam.  It was quite cold.  I think it would be nice with some whipped cream (or clotted cream?), or potentially warm with ice cream.  Decent, but not quite as served.  ***.

"Sundae".

Then, um, my "sundae"  This was plain vanilla ice cream, with a thick frozen sauce (caramel?) and  a few bits of brownie on top.  Ok, this was NOTHING like the glorious sundae cart.  I love having ice cream on a flight, but, the hard topping really didn't do it for me.  The ice cream was good enough, but, just plain vanilla.  The caramel was cloying sweet, and, yes, rock solid.  Meh. ***.

Arrival Meal

To say the timing of this flight is awkward is an understatement, but, this is generally true for all Europe flights.  We were arriving in what felt like early morning, but was 8pm locally.  Gah.  Most airlines tend to serve some kinda light brunch like meal, or tea time.  Not United.

Dinner-Breakfast-Wah?

1.5 hours before landing we were offered a choice of Mediterranean vegetables with cous cous and pesto or a "Hamburger Wellington."  Both were served with a fruit bowl and a packaged muffin.  Sorta a ... dinner-breakfast?  A hamburger wellington is not exactly a light arrival meal, but, United is kinda infamous for it at this point, and honestly, I suspect it is much tastier than the breakfast they serve on some routes (egg bites).

I don't care for cous cous, so this was an easy choice.  Also, um, HAMBURGER WELLINGTON!  Who cares if it is 2am?

Cheeseburger Wellington.

The wellington really was an item that works well for airplane meal service.  It holds temperature well.  The crust was thick, kinda buttery and flaky, and not like a real wellington, but more like a pot pie.  I actually really did like the pastry.  And hey, pastry sorta felt appropriate for "morning"?

Inside was a fairly thick beef patty.  Dense.  Fully cooked.  Not juicy.  Not much positive to say about the beef patty, most fast food burgers are tastier than this.  It was larger than expected though.

There was also cheese, as this was a cheeseburger wellington after all.  The cheese, orange, presumably American?, melted nicely, and I did like it.  So, pastry and cheese, quite good, but the beef ... not so much. 

It was served with condiment packets, not attempting to be fancy and put into little ramekins like many airlines do.  I didn't mind, but this certainly didn't help make it feel classy.  

And that was it.  Nothing to try to lighten it up in any way.  It really could have done with fresh tomatoes, onions, lettuce, pickles ... relish ... but I guess it wouldn't have been a wellington then.  This had potential, and made me excited about the idea of a cheeseburger wellington in general, it just, um, needs a better burger inside.

Anyway, not really what I wanted at 2am, and not really a light pre-arrival meal, but, an almost tasty item, just not for the timing.  ***.

Fruit & Muffin.

The muffin was a packaged blueberry muffin, served cold.  No points for presentation on this one, but it made it easy for me to just toss into my bag and try to warm up later.

Finally, fruit, which, shockingly, didn't have melons so I could try it.  But, um, I kinda wished I hadn't been able.  The fruit was horrible!  It looked decent - vibrant green kiwi, a full strawberry, blueberries ... but every piece I tried had a strange texture and flavor.  Almost like it had been frozen, even though it didn't look it.  I was shocked at how bad the fruit was, particularly as it didn't look bad.  Luckily, I had my own berries with me of course.  *.  

Since it was 6pm where I was landing, I opted for decaf coffee, and the flight attendant apologized telling me it was instant only.  It actually wasn't bad, even black, and it helped my brain wake up a little, without worrying me too much about the caffeine.

I didn't get a photo of it, but mid-flight near the galley were some snacks set up to grab - Cheez-Its, crackers, chips, full size Kit Kats, and several flavors of mini Ritter Sport.  I was happy to see chocolate in the lineup, and while this is no Club Kitchen like British Airways has with actual food, it was more than I was expecting.

Ocean Prime, Orlando

Ocean Prime is a fairly high end steakhouse/seafood restaurant, generally a special occasion kind of place, although it is a chain, with 18 locations, in most major cities in the US (but, not the one I live in).  I actually had never heard of Ocean Prime until I visited Orlando for a conference, but, apparently it is relatively well known, and does get rave reviews.

"OCEAN PRIME is a nationally acclaimed, modern American restaurant and lounge from the award-winning Cameron Mitchell Restaurants. There is a warm and vibrant energy at all times. Stunning settings, an impressive menu of seafood and steaks, and genuine hospitality make Ocean Prime the ideal place to socialize, talk business, celebrate and indulge." 

I didn't actually visit in person, because, in addition to being in Orlando for a convention with sessions all day long, I also had to do my regular job, and dial in to meetings remotely in the evenings.  Thus, no going out and exploring Orlando for me, and, I had to rely on delivery, as my hotel didn't have a restaurant.  Now, I know a high end restaurant isn't normally what folks pick for delivery, but, it got such great reviews, and had such a stellar menu, that I really did want to risk it.  I ordered several times, and was generally quite pleased, although, the prices are a bit hard to swallow.  The seafood surprisingly actually wasn't the star, but the side dishes were good, the complimentary bread and truffle popcorn very good, the cocktails great, and, the dessert, phenomenal.  I'd love to visit in person sometime to really get the full experience.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

Cocktails

Ocean Prime of course has a decent wine list, as it is a high end steakhouse / seafood restaurant after all, but they also have a lengthy, and interesting, cocktail menu.  In the restaurant, they have more than a dozen offerings, but on Door Dash, they only offer 6. The options were still great, and I was happy to be able to order a high end cocktail, delivered.  Door Dash prices for cocktails were $1 more than in the restaurant.

Prime Manhattan.  $19.

"Woodford Reserve, Carpano Antica Vermouth, Amaro Nonino, Rosemary Grapefruit Peppercorn Bitters."

The cocktail menu did have a few that sounded good, but, I was feeling classic, and thus, their version of the Manhattan it was.  I was certainly curious how the rosemary, grapefruit, and peppercorn flavors would come through.

I'll start with the packaging.  OMG, how cute was this?  Yes, it came in a mason jar.  Nearly every other takeout cocktail I've gotten has either come in a plastic soda fountain style cup, or, at best, a plastic bottle.  This was far classier.  It also was full to the brim ... and seemed bigger than what I'd get as a single serving in the restaurant?  Anyway, major points for the mason jar.

The cocktail itself was good.  Very balanced, yet clearly boozy.  I didn't taste rosemary specifically, nor grapefruit, nor peppercorn, but it was quite complex.  I liked it, quite a bit.  A wonderful treat to have delivered to me.  And the price actually seemed right for a cocktail of that quality (and portion!).  ****.

Pineapple Picante. $15.

"Pineapple Infused Corzo Silver Tequila, Picante, Fresh Lemon, Regan's Orange Bitters."

The next time I ordered, I was drawn in by this one.  Not by the pineapple exactly, but by the spice and the tequila.  It too came in a mason jar.

I tried a sip, and was quite pleased.  It was a bit sweet, but, the rest of the flavors were complex, there was clearly a decent amount of acidity, a bit of heat, and, tequila, which I do really enjoy from time to time.  It was a little warm when it arrived from being in with my warm food, but I poured it over ice, and that helped dilute it a bit too, which helped with the sweetness as well.

I enjoyed this, it was a fun cocktail, just a touch sweet, but I think that wouldn't be a problem as served at the restaurant, as it would come on ice there too.  I was glad I mixed it up to try this.

****.

Update: I liked it so much, I got a second one with another order.  I didn't take a photo, but it was slightly different - a touch more fruity, more pineapple, and it came with a lemon round in it.  I liked it too, but I think I preferred the first, less sweet, more spicy, version.

Berries & Bubbles. $19.

"Belvedere Organic Lemon & Basil Vodka, Marinated Blackberries, Fresh Lemon, Domaine Chandon Brut, Dry Ice Smoke."

For my last order, I decided to really go out on a limb, and try the "Berries & Bubbles".  I don't usually go for champagne, nor champagne cocktails, and I knew it would suffer a bit in being takeout, because, well, dry ice smoke I didn't exactly see them including in my takeout order, but I had enjoyed the other cocktails so much I wanted to give it a try.   It sounded fun!

It was less fun than I expected, as it didn't really have any bubbles left when it arrived, it was definitely a flat beverage.  I also didn't taste any basil, which I had hoped to detect, as I thought that could be quite interesting.  It also was not quite as described.  My drink did not have blackberries in it, but rather, 3 *blue* berries.

So, flat, smoke-less, basil-less, blueberry vodka drink it was.  Which, was fine, it was nicely fruity, not too sweet (one I added ice), but it wasn't as standout as the others.  I wouldn't get it again, especially not for delivery.

***. 

Food

To get things started, Ocean Prime has a variety of options for you. They have some very high end sushi rolls (think: a $26 spicy tuna roll?), a selection of oysters, shrimp or crab cocktails, seafood towers, and of course, an assortment of soups (lobster bisque, french onion) and salads (available with seafood add-ons), and *also* an entire appetizer section of hot items.  I tried several of these.

From there, it is time for mains.  Obviously, given the restaurant name, there is a selection of steaks (available with additions like black truffle butter, Oscar style, surf n turf, etc), and a huge range of phenomenal sounding seafood items (twin lobster tails, scallops, blackened snapper, local Florida grouper, etc), all of which come with fantastic sides like gnocchi, corn spoon bread, whipped potatoes, etc, and then some token chicken and pork dishes too.  The I would have happily order basically any of the seafood mains, but, note that they range from $49-$60.  I think most of the menu is common across locations, although they have some local variations (e.g. blackened Texas redfish instead of Florida grouper in Texas, Atlantic cod on Boston, swordfish in Phoenix - ok, that one makes no sense, etc).   I didn't splurge for any of these though, as I was getting delivery, and it just felt like a waste.

Then there are plenty of sides to pick from, items I knew would hold up better for delivery, so I opted for some of them too.

And don't get me started on the dessert menu.  I obviously had to get at least one.

So, overall, a menu I couldn't wait to dive into, but, gulp, the prices.  And ... I really wasn't sure how good of an idea ordering such high end food was for delivery, as clearly, these dishes would suffer in transit.

Appetizers & "On Ice".

The Ocean Prime menu has many categories of starters, I skipped the sushi and the soups and salads (although, really, the lobster bisque and the lobster and shrimp cobb salad both did call out, and I thought would fare well for delivery).

The appetizer lineup is where I started, thinking these dishes had a better chance of surviving delivery than the mains, and, well, they were more reasonably priced ($22-30).  Options here include your classics: steak tartare and fried calamari, along with something for the vegetarians (goat cheese ravioli, truffle deviled eggs), and an appetizer version of surf n turf (scallops and short ribs!) and tempting looking Tabasco cream shrimp saute.

I also went for something from their "On Ice" section, knowing it wouldn't come on ice exactly, but, a chilled dish was good for takeout. 

When you dine-in at Ocean Prime, your meal starts with two complimentary items in addition: a bread basket and ... truffle popcorn!  Um, be still my heart.  I didn't expect any of that with delivery though.

Bread Basket & Butter (Complimentary).

I absolutely was not expecting my takeout order to come with the bread basket!  But it did, with two each of two types of bread, still lightly warm, and whipped butter.

The soft pretzel sticks were fairly average - they were soft, definitely fresh, but lacked any real pretzel flavor, and could use more salt.  I think I was spoiled in Munich in May where even my hotel breakfast buffet had soft pretzel sticks/buns/rolls/etc that I think were better than this.  ***.

The other bread though was really quite good.  It had a slightly crunchy crust, was really moist, great chewy texture, and it was really, really good warmed up and slathered with the butter.  Far above average, even for fresh bread.  ****.

And then of course, the butter!  Fluffy, whipped, tasty.  Like the pretzel roll though, I think it could use a touch of salt.  ***+.

I was very pleased to unexpectedly get a bread basket, and enjoyed the non-pretzel bread far more than any other bread in recent memory.  That said, when you dine in, they also give truffle popcorn, which, if you know me and my popcorn obsession, you know I would have absolutely adored!

Bread Basket #2.

The second time I ordered, my bread basket did not have the pretzel rolls, just the nice crusty bread, and that didn't bother me at all - I liked it after all!  The portion was 3 big pieces this time.

Again, above average bread, great butter.  ***+.

Truffle Popcorn: Complimentary (by request).

The next time I ordered ... I, um, called and asked for the truffle popcorn to be included, instead of bread.  There was no way to do this via Door Dash, the restaurant choose not to allow any modifications or special requests, so, I had to actually call (gasp!).   The hostess who answered the phone was definitely amused, but went to check with the kitchen.  After quite some time, she came back saying they could do that for me.  I thanked her profusely.  Zomg, truffle popcorn!

The popcorn was very, very good.  Clearly freshly popped, big fluffy pieces, no unpopped kernels remained.  Not a one.  This was certainly not a light popcorn though - very clearly saturated in butter and oil (or maybe just oil?).  It was highly salty, which just made it that much more addicting.  And of course, the truffle (oil), fairly mild, but enough to keep you wanting more of that too.

It was the kind of popcorn you knew you shouldn't eat more than a few handfuls of at a time, but, no matter how hard you tried to resist, it was impossible.  So bingeworthy.

It was quite enjoyable to munch on (er, ok, devour in no time flat) later in my hotel room, and the truffle flavor definitely gave it an upscale feeling.  ****+.

Jumbo Lump Crab Cake. $29.

"Kale, Pickled Fennel, Horseradish Mustard Aioli." 

The first thing I ordered from Ocean Prime however was the crab cakes.  I love crab after all (hence, the label on my blog), and I was actually totally craving crab cakes.  I also thought this would be reasonably easy to heat up if I needed in my hotel room (I had a stove top in my kitchenette, so I could quickly pan sear it if it wasn't still warm).

I was glad to have that stove top, as, yup, it wasn't even mildly warm still.  The bread had fared better!  I quickly heated it up, and dug in.  The crab cake was just a single cake, but, it was thick, and loaded with big chunks of lump crab meat.  It had some filler, breadcrumbs I assume, but no herbs.  Mostly just lots of crab, although the outside was fairly bready.  It had a good sear on the outside, and was very moist inside.    Certainly a quality crab cake, but I felt a bit let down by it.  I think I actually would prefer some herbs or something in the filler, something to give it additional flavor.  It also tasted a touch fishy (mostly when it was lukewarm, it was better heated up).  ***.

The appetizer version came with chilled sides -  some (marinated?) shredded kale and pickled fennel, basically a little side salad/garnish.  The pickled fennel was good for a touch of acid.  I guess this was nice if you were thinking of it as an appetizer, but I was eating it as a main course (alongside some other leftovers I had), and I wanted warm sides.  That's my own fault for getting the appetizer portion.  Still, the garnish/side wasn't all that exciting.  ***.

And then, the sauce, which I appreciated being served on the side.  This was a horseradish mustard aioli, which sounded great, but strangely, I didn't love.  The mustard was very strong (grainy style mustard) and I felt it kinda clashed with the more delicate crab.  I really just wanted some tartar sauce, or even just cocktail sauce.  Or maybe, even just a lemon to squeeze over, so I could really appreciate the lump crab.  I made due with some hot sauce from Sweet Green that I had leftover from lunch, and actually thought that went really well - the red pepper really worked.  **+ for the mustard aioli though.

The menu also has an entree version of the crab cake, served as a pair, with more entree appropriate accompaniments (brussels sprouts, corn, tomatoes, fingerling potatoes), and a different sauce (mustard cream, instead of mustard aioli), for $49.   I actually liked the sound of these sides more, and the sauce, but, since this was my first order from Ocean Prime, I wanted to play it safer, and get the smaller dish, in case I didn't really like it.  And $49 for two crab cakes ... felt pricey for sure.  I do have regret though, as I suspect that would have been far more successful.

So this was a mixed bag for me - clearly a quality item, just, not one I loved.  With my own warm veggie sides, and my own sauce, I had a nice meal, but, oops?  Perhaps a bad order on my part.  ***.

Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail. $26.

So this was certainly a splurge, although, one of the cheaper proteins on the menu, as it was just a starter.  Jump shrimp cocktail, likely served more elegantly in the restaurant, but actually, a dish that worked absolutely fine for takeout, as it was chilled.

The shrimp were clearly quality, large shrimp, succulent, well cleaned, not chewy, almost akin to lobster.  But they were, at the end of the day, just cold unseasoned shrimp, and weren't about to blow my mind.  The provided cocktail sauce was fine, some horseradish to it, but again, not particularly remarkable.  I was also given a lemon to drizzle over, which I did use and appreciate.

Overall, this was certainly a quality product well prepared, but, didn't have any unique touches to it.  The portion of 4 for $26 was in line with their pricing, but, certainly pricey.  ***+.

Other "On Ice" options were oysters (meh), or crab cocktail, but since I'd just had crab, the shrimp was really the only one I was interested in (they also have a whole lobster, and a "smoking" shellfish tower, when you dine-in).

Sides

What steakhouse is complete without additional a la carte sides?  Ocean Prime has them too ... in spades.  The usual potato suspects are there (roasted garlic mashed, regular whipped potatoes, loaded baked potato, twice baked potato, parmesan truffle fries) or more fun ones like jalapeno au gratin or smoked gouda tater tots, and then the not-so-healthy veggies like bacon creamed spinach, "chophouse corn" (which looked to be creamed?), asparagus with hollandaise, and more, and, of course, black truffle mac and cheese.  

Sides range from $15-20, and are designed to share.

I couldn't resist ordering a few, even with these prices.

Asparagus & Hollandaise. $18,

Ok, I was really, really craving asparagus.  It was mid-September, and San Francisco menus stopped featuring it weeks ago.  I was seriously craving it, and, many places around Orlando still had it on the menu (or, maybe they aren't quite as hyper seasonal in their menus as SF is?).  Either way, nearly every menu I looked at had asparagus in some for - grilled, roasted, steamed, whatever.  

Also, um, I love hollandaise.  My hotel had a chef that cooked one dish to order every morning (you never knew what it would be, it might be omelettes, it might be pancakes, it might be eggs your way).  I was really hoping we'd have eggs-your-way the next day, and, swoon, I could bring some hollandaise to drizzle over it, and make my own little benedict-like.  I had whole wheat english muffins and a toaster in my room too!  Or, I had leftover swordfish from the night before, where I ordered swordfish piccata that came entirely without a sauce.  The fish was fine, but it really needed a buttery sauce.  The hollandaise could do the trick!

So, it might sound ridiculous to order $18 asparagus, but, I really wanted both the asparagus and the sauce.

I'll admit I was a bit let down when I saw the asparagus.  Fairly thin stalks, I think just sauteed in butter or oil, not roasted nor grilled.  I tried one, barely warm due to delivery, and it was very, very salty.  I like a high salt level, but, wow, salt.  I heated the rest back up (my room had a microwave), and added pepper (while it had plenty of salt, it had no other seasoning), and of course drizzled with hollandaise, and enjoyed it, but, it wasn't particularly great asparagus.  I would have liked some char from a grill, some deeper flavor from roasting, or, if really just simple sauteed asparagus, a bit snappier, a bit, well, more flavorful.  It was fine, but, just not exciting.  And yes, salty.

The hollandaise was provided on the side.  It definitely didn't love standing up to delivery, slightly split, but I saw that as a good thing since I knew it was legit hollandaise, not a powder.  I didn't try to heat it up, as I knew that would split it further.  It was creamy, and good, but fairly plain - no real lemon nor anything more to it.

Overall, I did like this, but, it wasn't anything special.  ***+.

Jalapeño Au Gratin $18.

At last minute, I decided to throw another side on to my order.  I had leftover swordfish and octopus to eat for dinner, and was getting the asparagus to go with it (and the rest of my leftover veggies too), and knew my order likely would come with bread, so I certainly didn't need any other carbs, but ... there were so many great sounding potato carbs, how could I not?  And if I was going for it, why not go all in?  And thus, jalapeño au gratin it was.

Like the other food I ordered, it was barely warm when it arrived, which did surprise me a little as I thought this would hold the temperature a bit better.  This was easily fixed though with my little portable oven.

So, yeah, this was good.  It had far more jalapeño than I expected, really a nice heat.  It was creamy, it was rich, it was really cheesy.  It had cheese baked on top, it had cream between the layers, and it was horrible for me, no question, but it was good.  The potatoes were nicely cooked, not too soft, not too al dente.   I'm not sure what cheeses were used, but I think there was gouda in there (just like their tots), as it seemed to have a good complexity to it.

This went wonderfully with my leftover swordfish and the asparagus, and the portion was quite generous (as it should be for $18!), so I was able to enjoy it over several meals.

Definitely above average gratin, interesting complexity from the jalapeño and cheeses used.  ****.

Dessert

Oh, man, this dessert menu.  All heavy hitters, I'd gladly order any of them (ok, I'd skip the sorbet).  Chocolate peanut butter pie, warm butter cake with berries and ice cream, classic creme brulee, and, zomg, even the carrot cake sounded epic: 10 layer carrot cake!  Of course, these will run you $15-20 too.

10 Layer Carrot Cake. $19.

"Cream Cheese Icing And Pineapple Syrup."

Ok, so this carrot cake was certainly made for show.  10 layers.  Served in a towering upright slice when you dine in.  I had seen plenty of photos, and knew it was massive (as it should be for $19!), and, very, very Instagram worthy.  But would it be any good?  I certainly enjoy carrot cake, more than most other cake really, but, I do have preferences: I want it moist, loaded with nuts, and great cream cheese frosting.  I had my doubts, I won't lie.

But, um, wow, that Ten Layer Carrot Cake ... I assure you, this is *not* just for show!  

The cake was light and airy, well spiced, and had a slight buttermilk-like tang to it, almost like a red velvet cake.  It was less dense than most carrot cake.  Sure, I prefer nuts, but, this was a fairly remarkable cake on its own.  And then, all those layers made for every bite just being perfect - no need to work to craft a bite with proper amounts of frosting and cake, every bite just naturally is that way.  And the frosting, not cloying sweet, so you *do* want all of it!  This cake just ate so, so well.

The pineapple syrup to drizzle over it just pushes it up a notch, adds a little fruity quality and moisture should you prefer (I grew up with my great aunt's "famous" carrot cake that had plenty of crushed pineapple in it, so, pineapple and carrot cake certainly go together in my mind).  I don't think it needed it though, and I actually may have preferred just some fresh sliced strawberries.

It also came with a small side of fairly generic whipped cream to add to it, fine, but also not really necessary as the cake was just so good.

One of the best carrot cakes I've ever had, and yes, $19 is a lot for a slice of carrot cake, but this one is massive, and clearly more work than your average carrot cake.   And really, truly worth the splurge.  ****+.